Jumanji bit me for the first time

[Matthew Colella]

In his defense I had eaten chicken and forgot to wash the scent from my hand. When I put my hand in the tank, he looked like he was gonna strike like he does when he eats. I was lifting my hand out and he jumped and snagged my thumb. It slightly bled.

 

[misterpc23]

My tegu used to bite my fingers when he got hungry. Now i make sure i tong feed and always wash my hands after handling meat. Another thing i did was just deal with it and let him bite me a few times. They eventually learn that youre not food, the key is to not get freaked out and pull away when they bite, thats when their teeth slice into your skin. Also avoid having sweaty hands/face when handling your tegu. I had mine on my chest while i was watching a movie during a warm summer day. 5 minutes later my tegu flicked his tongue a few times, looked up at my and leaped at my nose! Little bastard wouldnt let go for like 5 seconds! But that was the only time he ever did it. Theyre sort of like puppies amd babies, gotta put everything in their mouth once, or twice, or ten times haha

 

[misterpc23]

In his defense I had eaten chicken and forgot to wash the scent from my hand. When I put my hand in the tank, he looked like he was gonna strike like he does when he eats. I was lifting my hand out and he jumped and snagged my thumb. It slightly bled.

That also means he may have been hungry, are you sure youre feeding him enough? I know when i got my tegu i didnt realize how voracious of an eater he could be, was used to my leopard geckos.

 

[Matthew Colella]

When he bit me, it was ten minutes after he was fed. I feed him 10-12 crikets with three super worms. Sometimes I feed him a fruit salad (banana, apple, and strawberries).

 

[misterpc23]

You should start feeding him pinky mice as well. Crickets are good and all but theyre not supposed to be their main diet plus i noticed that my tegu had issues deficating due to how hard the crickets and grasshoppers can be to digest.

 

[Matthew Colella]

He is about 4-3 months. Should I try feeding him the mice at such a young age?

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Offer variety including different types of whole prey, from insects to birds, fruits and veggies from day one. Just make sure they're small enough for your tegu to take whole or cut them up. For a size reference to what they can handle easily with out tearing it apart and making a mess, whole foods shouldn't be any bigger than the width of their head.

 

[Matthew Colella]

Do you guys recommend feeding tegus inside their enclosures or in separate container to help prevent cage aggression?

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

I do what works for them. As long as you spend more time working with them inside and out of their enclosure that doesn't involve food there shouldn't be much of and issue with food or cage aggression. Whether you feed inside or not for me it depends on the tegu. If it's more of an issue trying to catch them at a young age, to get them out of their enclosure to feed them that can be a set back.
Tsuk was cage aggressive when I got him, but he was also under weight and fed live rats so that was understandable. So I stopped feeding him in his cage until he got over it. No food in or around it, when he got excited and rushed the doors I waited for him to calm down before opening it and letting him come out on his own then offered food away from it. Now I can feed him inside of it, out, take food from him, open his mouth and put it in or what ever with no issue.

 

[Matthew Colella]

Catching Jumanji is no issue. All I have to do is put my hand in the enclosure and he climbs right on.